Wooden pair rings for my wife and daughter

These are the gifts, for my wife, Mother’s day. And for my daughter, on 3rd birthday coming this Monday. I already made her a rustic bed, but this is a extra gift go with it. She always says to me, “Would you marry me, although I don’t have a ring” (of course in Japanese), so I decided to make her one.

I used, rosewood, birch and walnut. Maybe I will try other combination later. Finished with Sesame oil, called “E-abura” here in Japan.I wanted to make something in a short time, because I have been doing long term projects. I though it might took 2 days, but I finished these in about 5 hours. It was quick, and fun!

The biggest concern is how strong these rings can be. I have to wait and see how it goes…

Great job, Junji! I like the woods chosen, and the color contrasts! I am really impressed!

As far as structural durability concerns… they should hold up well under normal circumstances. If someone were to, for instance, step on your hand while you had the ring on – it could possibly break.

I do a basic “squeeze test” on all the rings, turning and squeezing the ring between thumb and pointer finger. Although I use significant pressure, I naturally hold back a bit. (Who wants to intentionally break something they just spent so much time on?) This offers me a bit of reassurance, and what you are looking for is an unacceptable weakness in any part of the ring, that would cause it to fail early. The only time a ring has ever cracked was in a single, solid piece of walnut. The multi-layer rings have never done this.

For the strongest wooden ring available, bentwood rings are probably the best. I’ve made some hickory ones that I have no idea how they could be broken. (Well, maybe put in a vice. Ha ha!) There is a very talented Canadian artist who makes bentwood rings that are both strong and pretty, but they start out at $400. Lots of time involved in them.

I typically do bentwood rings in solid bands, because inlay work (for getting pretty contrasts) is so involved, and I want to keep my ring prices reasonable. That’s why the built-up ones are nice. However, I have experimented with a combination ring, where you apply a bent layer around the inside of a built-up ring. This adds great reinforcement, and looks + feels nice. I’ll try and upload pictures of that later.

As far as durability otherwise… I am currerntly wearing one of the first rings I made. It stays on ALL the time. This is my way of “product testing”. It has seen a lot of exposure to water, hand washings, dishes, stays on while I work outside (and south Mississippi is hot – Ha ha! ... so lots of sweat), even while wearing gloves, which builds up moisture, etc. Also, I never dry it off after hand washings (which is generally recommended – because the moisture stays between ring and finger for a while) This one doesn’t even have a membrane finish – it was finished with penetrating oil. It is holding up very well.

Sorry for the long comment, but I like to help people as much as I can.

Again, GREAT job on those rings!!! I’m sure your wife and daughter will be very happy with them!

Moai,The color combination came out well, but I found out I should have been more careful which part of the woods to use for the ring, because some parts, the color of the walnut didn’t came out well, and looks so same with the birch. Well, that was a good lesson for me.

Frank,Thank you for your message. Yes, maybe what I need the most is to test it myself, not to ask my wife and daughter to do that. In that way, I can check it better. Yes, I will make one more for me!!! I found these rings can be a good gift for anybody, it can be done without taking so long time. So I should know it better. “bent layer around the inside of a built-up ring”, wow, that would be really nice. I want to see it, yes.Thank you again for your help.

Dick, & Barb,Yes, I laminated the wood cross grain, so it should last at least for a while.About epoxy finish, I wanted to make this as natural as it can be, because my little daughter is still 3 years old, and I am sure that she won’t swallow it, but may lick it.

Junji, those rings are very nicely done. I’m sure your wife and daughter will be proud to wear them. Please keep posting your projects! One of these days I might have to try making a ring too, I never realized how beautiful they could be. I also went over to your MySpace to listen to your music. Wow. As you said, I don’t understand the lyrics on some, but the soul understands. Keep up the good work!

Bovine,Thank you so much. My daughter doesn’t wear it so much, I guess it bothers her, but my wife is really happy and wearing it all the time. Yes, you should try, it doesn’t take so long, you need only a bit of wood, and it looks great. Be sure to glue and clamp the wood good.And than you again for listening to my music. Hey, if you have time, come to KOBE this Friday. I have a live in a bar!!! Ha Ha Ha!